Heather Grabbe
Heather Grabbe is a Senior Fellow at Bruegel. She specialises in the political economy of the sustainability transition and its impact on Europe's international relations and external policies.
Her current research is on the nexus between climate impacts, geopolitics and economic security, the role of resource productivity and circularity in strategic autonomy, biodiversity finance and the role of nature credits, and the evolution of green global value chains with carbon pricing.
She speaks English, French, Italian and German.
Heather is also a Visiting Professor at University College London. She was previously Director of the Open Society European Policy Institute, Deputy Director of the Centre for European Reform and senior advisor to then European Commissioner Olli Rehn. She has conducted academic research at the European University Institute, Chatham House and the University of Oxford. She holds a PhD from the University of Birmingham.
Disclosure of interests
Featured work
Resource Productivity: Europe’s Overlooked Route to Economic Security
Climate, data and complacency
Why economists need to take the costs of climate change more seriously
Coffee and chocolate lovers should want EU deforestation rules in force without delay
A new pause in implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation is regrettable and should not lead to weakening of the law
Climate risks to global supply chains
Extreme weather is disrupting supply chains more often, making risk awareness, mitigation and global policy coordination increasingly vital
All work
External publication
15 December 2025
Event
10 December 2025
Can policy survive politics?
Bruegel’s 20th anniversary event in Warsaw, jointly organised with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Poland
Event
19 November 2025
Economic security: perspectives from EU, Japan and US
How should the EU adapt its economic security strategy given the changing transatlantic relationship?
Event
03 December 2025
A bigger Single Market before enlargement: how to integrate the Western Balkans ahead of accession
Can the region capitalise on the momentum to overcome its region-specific hurdles?
Event
12 November 2025
The 21st century economic consensus: rethinking policy and strategy
How can Europe renew its economic and political vision in a fragmented global order?
Podcast
15 October 2025
Climate, data and complacency
Why economists need to take the costs of climate change more seriously
First Glance
25 September 2025
Coffee and chocolate lovers should want EU deforestation rules in force without delay
A new pause in implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation is regrettable and should not lead to weakening of the law
Working paper
19 September 2025
Climate risks to global supply chains
Extreme weather is disrupting supply chains more often, making risk awareness, mitigation and global policy coordination increasingly vital
Event
02 October 2025
Investment in enlargement: a conversation with Odile Renaud-Basso
How can investment, reform, and support for Ukraine and other EU candidate countries shape the future of EU enlargement?
Event
30 September 2025
Building a competitive and climate-resilient Europe: the role of finance and insurance
Bruegel’s 20th anniversary event in Madrid, jointly organised with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business